China: US, the Philippines are causing tensions in South China Sea

China's foreign ministry has responded to British minister of state for foreign affairs's recent remarks over South China Sea. Hugo Swire blamed China for causing tensions in the region. A spokesperson for the Chinese foreign ministry said such comments were unfounded accusation in disregard of the facts.

"Mr Swire's remarks are ignoring the facts and are full of discrimination and prejudice. The remarks also violated the United Kingdom's commitment of not taking sides on related issues," said Hua Chunying, spokesperson, Chinese Foreign Ministry.

"We strongly condemned such comments. The so-called tensions in the South China sea are created by the US and the Philippines, with their own political agenda,"

"We can see that each year over 100,000 vessels safely pass through the South China sea , the only difference is that the US military... the US military fleets and aircraft appear more frequently in the region,"

"Just a day before yesterday, the US ambassador to the Philippines said the US will offer surveillance airships and other military equipment worth of 42 million US dollars to the Philippines. The truth is that if there are any tensions in the South China sea, the US is the biggest factor."